A new food hub in Holbeach which could create about 700 jobs has been hailed as confirmation of the area’s status as “the food basket of Britain”.

South Holland and the Deepings MP John Hayes welcomed news from Defra that the planned site next to the National Centre for Food Manufacturing (NCFM) in Park Road will get a share of more than 10,000 new jobs being created at 17 Food Enterprise Zones across the UK.

We have some outstanding food and farming businesses in my constituency which really makes us the food basket of Britain.

South Holland and the Deepings MP John Hayes

Details of the new jobs were revealed in our sister newspaper, the Spalding Guardian, on Thursday after the Government announced that extra support would be given to the UK’s food and farming industry which is worth about £100 billion a year.

In making the announcement, Environment Secretary Liz Truss said: “Food Enterprise Zones will unleash food entrepreneurs, bringing together researchers, farmers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers so they can improve productivity and spark new ideas off each other.”

As well as Holbeach, there will be two other food hubs in Lincolnshire at Europarc Innovation Centre, Grimsby, and Hemswell, near Gainsborough.

Mr Hayes said: “One of the great strengths of our area is the quality and quantity of our work in food production, both in terms of the number of businesses and the standard of work they do.

“We have some outstanding food and farming businesses in my constituency which really makes us the food basket of Britain.

“But now we need to reinvest in new skills to maintain the area’s pre-eminence in the food and farming industry, so the work being done at NCFM is important and it will be boosted by this new food hub status.”